The Romans were a less imaginative, if more practical, people than the Greeks. Most of their deities were equivalent ones to those the Greeks worshipped, albeit with different (Roman) names.5 In fact, much of Roman religion came from the Greeks by way of the Etruscans, who were in the northern area of Italy and flourished between 900 and 500 b.c.e. The Roman religious rites were also more formal than those of the Greeks, with more importance given to the days of worship and the actual form of ritual.
The Greeks borrowed many of their magical practices, along with the zodiac, from the Babylonians. However, the majority of symbols found in Greek and Roman religion are the attributes of the various gods and goddesses. Where would Poseidon/Neptune be without his trident, or Hermes without the caduceus? There were also carryovers from the Egyptians, such as the Eye of Horus used as a protective symbol.
Prow of Boat Eye
From Phoenician warboats and merchantmen of 750 b.c.e. to the Greek war galleys and merchantmen of 250 b.c.e. and beyond, the protective eye would be painted on the bows of the vessel to look out for danger and to “see” where the ship was going.
Phallus
A belief in the Evil Eye was common in both the Greek and Roman cultures. The idea that some people have the power to cause harm to others—whether intentionally or unconsciously —simply by looking at them, is an almost universal belief. The Greek word baskinein means “to kill with a glance of the eye.” The countermeasure for this was a model of a phallus.
Rod of Asclepius/Aesculapius (caduceus)
Asclepius was the son of Apollo and Coronis. He was taught medicine by the centaur Chiron and went on to make many miraculous cures, including bringing the dead back to life. One of his daughters was Hygieia, who became goddess of health. The symbol of Asclepius was a rod around which twined two serpents. This was later inherited by Hermes/Mercury as the caduceus. In fact, the serpent-entwined rod came originally from the Sumerian god Ningishzida, the son of the Mater-physician Ninazu.
Cornucopia
Copia was the Roman goddess of plenty, sometimes identified with the Greek goddess Tyche. Cornucopia means “horn of Copia,” i.e., “horn of plenty.” It was a magic horn that provided everything its owner desired. Other deities, in addition to Copia, are depicted holding the cornucopia (e.g., Banda, Cernunnos, Eirene, Fortuna, Pax, Rosmerta, Tutela, Virtus).
Thunderbolt—Zeus/Jupiter
The head of the Greek’s Olympian pantheon was Zeus, father and king of gods and men. His Roman counterpart was Jupiter. Poseidon/Neptune and Hades/Pluto were his brothers. Zeus became omnipotent and omniscient, the fountainhead of divination. One of his attributes is the eagle. Another is the thunderbolt, which he was capable of flinging at those who displeased him. He was lord of the winds, clouds, rain, and thunder.
Trident
Poseidon was the brother of Zeus and ruled the seas and the oceans. He could split rocks with his trident, thus acquiring the epithet “earth shaker.” He was equated with the Roman god Neptune. It is said that the three prongs of the trident represent the past, present, and future. The trident is also found with the Hindu god Shiva, where the three prongs represent his function as creator, destroyer, and preserver. (See also the chapter on Hindu symbols.)
Owl
Athena/Minerva was goddess of both war and wisdom. She was the daughter of Zeus and Metis. Her patron bird was the owl, also the totem bird of Athens. On the breastplate of her armor she wears the aegis and the head of Medusa, the Gorgon.
Medusa’s Head (Gorgon)
Hammer & Tongs of Hephaestus/Vulcan
Hephaestus was the Greek god of metalwork and craftsmanship. He is equated with the Roman god Vulcan. He was born lame, for which his mother, Hera, threw him down from Olympus. But he went on to become a skilled workman and a great smith of the gods.
The Corn Sheaf
Torch
The Corn Sheaf was the symbol of the Great Mysteries at Eleusis, and of all corn deities. Wheat and corn sheaves symbolize the fertility of the earth. It is the symbol of Demeter/ Ceres. The Eleusinian Mysteries were founded on the myth of Demeter’s journey through the underworld in search of her daughter Persephone (also known as Kore), who had been abducted by Hades. The Mysteries was a major festival celebrating first (in October) the disappearance of Persephone, and then (in February) her return. Along with the sheaf, Demeter’s other attribute is the torch, symbolizing her search in the netherworld.
Labrys
Much as Demeter roamed the underworld in her search for Persephone, so did Theseus have to travel through the labyrinth of Knossos, in Crete, in search of the Minotaur. With the aid of Ariadne, he found and killed the Minotaur. The symbol of Knossos was the Labrys, the double-bladed axe, which has, in recent times, become a symbol of lesbianism because of its association with the Amazons.
Labyrinth
Thyrsus
The Thyrsus was the sacred rod of Dionysus/Bacchus. It was a stalk of fennel topped by a pine cone and represented the phallus, a fertility symbol. The Roman name for the thyrsus was baculus, after the god Bacchus.
[contents]
5. The Roman gods are shown in bold type in this chapter.
Hindu
Om, or AUM, is believed to be the one eternal symbol incorporating past, present, and future. Some say the three letters of AUM stand for Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva; Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer. The word is a shortened version of the whole phrase Aum-mani-padme-hum. According to The Theosophical Glossary of Helena P. Blavatsky:
“Om! the jewel in the lotus, hum! One of the most sacred Buddhist mantras or verbal formulas; used very frequently in Tibet and in surrounding countries of the Far East. Not only is every syllable said to have a secret power of producing a definite result, but the whole invocation has a number of meanings. When properly pronounced or changed, it produces different results, differing from the others according to the intonation and will given to the formula and its syllables. This mystic sentence above all refers to the indissoluble union between man and the universe, and thus conveys ‘I am in thee and thou art in me.’ Each of us has within himself the jewel in the lotus or the divine self within. When understood in a kosmic sense, it signifies the divine kosmic self within, inspiring all beings within the range of that kosmic divinity.”6
Two versions of the symbol for Om
Tattvas
One of the systems for classifying the five elements—water, air, fire, earth, spirit—in Hinduism is with the use of tattvas. Water is represented by a silver crescent moon, Air is a blue circle, Fire is a red triangle, Earth is a yellow diamond, and Spirit is an indigo egg. The names of the tattvas are the names of deities: Apas, Vayu, Tejas, Prithivi, and Akasa. The appropriate tattva may be used in ritual to summon one of the deities.
[contents]
6. Helena P. Blavatsky, The Theosophical Glossary (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1892).
Islam
Islam is Arabic for “submission” (to the will of God). It is the name given by Moslems to their religion. Approximately one-fifth of the world’s population is Muslim. Muhammad is regarded as the last of the great prophets. To him God gave a book, the Qur’an, or Koran (as God gave the Torah to Moses), and revealed himself to humankind through that book. Muslims believe that their religion was the one revealed to all the prophets. Islam is a way of life, with every aspect exhaustively examined, with thorough guidelines. There is also a belief in an afterlife, as detailed as the present life. This afterlife is written about in both the Qur’an and the Hadith (the sayings of Muhammad).
When he was forty years old, Muhammad spent a night in a cave, where he was visited by the Angel Gabriel, or Jibril. There he r
eceived the first of the communications from Allah. These contacts continued for twenty-three years. The words he received, Muhammad recited at Ramadan (the ninth month of the Muslim calendar), in the year 610 c.e. Every year thereafter, at that time, he would recite all that he had received. It has been said that Islam owes everything to Muhammad, because of his profound religious insight, his organizational talent, and his political leadership.
The early forging of Islam in effect attacked the polytheism that predated it, bringing in a form of monotheism. However, as with Christianity’s inability to completely erase Paganism, so Islam was unable to completely eradicate the worship of stones, trees, and nature. Today, relics and fetishes are in constant demand, and ancient places of worship are now ascribed to saints and prophets.
Star & Crescent
Adopted as the symbol of Islam in the fourteenth century, this waxing moon (associated with Diana) was used first and then the star was added later, as a symbol of divinity and sovereignty. In ancient Asia, the crescent moon represented the barque of Sin, the Babylonian moon-god.
Hand of Fatima
Named after Muhammad’s daughter, the Hand of Fatima represents the Five Pillars of Islam; the five fundamentals: faith, prayer, pilgrimage, fasting, and charity. Also, the thumb represents the Prophet, the first finger is the Lady Fatima, the second finger is her husband, Ali, and the third and fourth fingers are their sons Hasan and Husain.
[contents]
Judaic
Judaism is one of the three great theocentric faiths (the other two being Christianity and Islam, both stemming from Judaism); faiths centered around a personal god and propagated by prophets. Prior to the founding of Judaism there was another attempt to found a monotheistic religion and that was in 1380 b.c.e., when Amenhotep IV promoted a solar deity in Egypt. The god of the Jews was originally Jahweh, possibly a Sinaitic thunder god from the south of Mesopotamia. He was promoted by Moses and assimilated with El-Shaddai, god of the mountains of Northern Mesopotamia. A succession of prophets, including Abraham, Elijah, Moses, and Jeremiah, developed the worship of this god to the point where they drove out the natural polytheism of their people. Previously nature worshippers, with emphasis on agriculture and fertility, the communities included Astarte in their original worship and incorporated the veneration of trees, streams, wells, stones, and serpents.
After a very stormy history, by the early Middle Ages the Jews had compiled the Talmud. This was a collection of all the various sources of written and unwritten law, put together with both traditional interpretations and the opinions of generations of rabbis. It embodied legends and sermons, and was finally completed by the end of the fifth century. It comprised sixty-three volumes. The first five books of this Hebrew Bible comprise the Torah.
By the thirteenth century another movement had arisen. This was mystical in nature, and its various books of speculative theology and mystical number symbolism was called the Kabbalah. The Torah has four levels of meaning: the literal, the allegorical, the homiletical (sermons, moral lectures), and the mystical. The Kabbalah is part of the mysticism of the Torah. It states that there is a series of ten spheres, or sefirot, through which divine influence passes to reach the earth. The central text is known as the Zohar, which shows the tenth sefirah as being a feminine aspect of deity. This is called Shekhinah. The Zohar is believed to be the teachings of the third-century Rabbi Simeon bar Yochai.
The Star of David
The Star of David is the magical hexagram. It was early revered in India as a symbol of the union between Shiva and Kali and is found in the Hindu emblem Sri Iantra. It was only officially accepted as a Jewish symbol in relatively modern times, in 1897.
The Menorah
The Menorah is the seven-branched candleholder. The seven branches represent the seven days of the week. It is said that they also represent the sun, the moon, and the five main planets. The three U-shaped arms are for beauty, strength, and wisdom.
The Pentateuch (the Torah)
The Commandment Tablets
Adonai
Tree of Life
Here is the Tree of Life, showing the ten spheres (sefirot).
1: Kether—Supreme Crown
6: Tifereth—Beauty
2: Hokhmah—Wisdom
7: Netsah—Endurance
3: Binah—Understanding
8: Hod—Majesty
4: Hesed—Love
9: Yesod—Foundation
5: Din—Power
10: Malkuth—Kingdom
[contents]
Magical Alphabets
In the Middle Ages, Ceremonial Magic was openly practiced by many high dignitaries of the Christian Church. (See also the chapter on Ceremonial Magic.) This was a time when the Church was mercilessly persecuting people for being Witches. However, since Ceremonial Magic was regarded as a practice rather than a religion, it was not viewed as being counter to the Church teachings and a blind eye was turned to those who performed it.
There was great rivalry between the magicians, who usually worked alone and jealously guarded the methods of operation they perfected. To safeguard the results of countless years of work, many magicians would write the most important parts of their grimoires, or books of magic, in secret, “magical” alphabets. This way, if the book was ever stolen, the thief would not necessarily be able to perform the work it had taken so many years for the magician to perfect.
Various magical alphabets were used to preserve this secrecy. They had such titles as Angelic, Enochian, Malachim (or Language of the Magi), Ogham, Passing the River, and Theban. Various of the runic alphabets were also employed, as were Egyptian hieroglyphics.
But perhaps the more important reason for using the magical alphabets was power: power that the magician could put into his book and into the talismans and other instruments he used. Everything used had to be powerful enough to protect the magician from the wrath of the entities he summoned. If using ordinary, everyday writing, overfamiliarity would bring about a tendency to scribble down what was to be recorded without really thinking about the actual writing itself; the formation of the individual letters. But if using an alphabet with which he was not too familiar, the magician would really have to concentrate on the actual forming of every letter. In this way, according to the old grimoires, he would be putting his energies, his “power” or mana, into that writing.
This was especially important in the writing used on such things as talismans, for the more power that went into the making of a talisman, the better; the more protective it would be. Magical alphabets were therefore used both for secrecy and for directing energy into what was being written.
Some of these magical alphabets are still used by modern-day magicians and Witches. However, many who use them have forgotten, or are ignorant of, the original reasons for their use. They will try to impress others by showing their proficiency with, for example, Theban, writing it as rapidly as they would everyday English. Doing this, however, actually shows tremendous ignorance, since it defeats the whole purpose of using the magical writing.
In the making of talismans, magicians will often utilize what are known as magic squares. A magic square is an arrangement of numbers, in the form of a square, where every row and column, plus both diagonals, add up to the same number, called the constant. Each number may only appear once in the square. These magic squares were originally used in ancient India and China, and were introduced into Europe early in the Christian era. Sometimes letters are used instead of numbers, and then one of the magical alphabets is utilized.
Cornelius Agrippa (1486–1535), whose real name was Heinrich
Cornelis, constructed seven different magic squares that he aligned with the seven planets: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon. These have become standards in ritual magic. The Saturn square is probably one of the oldest, being found in the Chinese I Ching. Its constant is 15. Agrippa founded several secret magical societies and wrote a number of books on magic.
Francis Barrett, in his The Magus (1801), Eliphas Levi, in Transcendental Magic (1896), and others, followed the lead of Agrippa, employing magic squares for a variety of purposes, from protection in childbirth to making a man powerful. In S. L. MacGregor Mathers’s translation of The Book of Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin the Mage, published in 1932, the book shows a large number of magic squares for many different purposes, the majority comprised of letters rather than numbers. These are arranged so that the words read the same from the left, right, downward, and upward. One of these, known as the Sator formula—from the first word across the top of the square—was discovered engraved on old drinking vessels and on fragments from a Roman villa near Cirencester, England (see illustration at the end of this chapter).
Signs, Symbols & Omens: An Illustrated Guide to Magical & Spiritual Symbolism Page 6